[Assessment of disease control among asthmatic adolescents].
BACKGROUND
The clinical assessment of asthma control is fundamental to evaluate the results of treatment. The Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a questionnaire with five scored items, that differentiates between a well controlled or uncontrolled asthma. It has a Spanish version and has been applied in different countries.


OBJECTIVE
To assess asthma control using the ACT and compare it with the clinical assessment of specialists in a group of pediatric patients.


METHODS
The ACT was applied to 220 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 54% males, with persistent asthma, attended at a respiratory disease unit of a pediatric hospital. The concordance between ACT results and the assessment of specialists was also evaluated.


RESULTS
According to ACT and specialists, asthma was controlled in 54% and 63% of patients, respectively. There was a weak concordance between ACT and specialists assessment (Kappa index: 0.27; 95% confidence intervals: 0.14-0.4). The degree of asthma control decreased along with increasing severity of the disease (chi2 = 10.128, p =0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Half of the evaluated asthmatic adolescents do not have an adequate control of their disease. Severity of the disease is inversely related to the degree of control.
Vidal
Alberto
A
Departamento de Pediatría y Cirugía Infantil, Campus Norte, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile. aevgmd@yahoo.es
Ubilla
Carlos
C
Duffau
Gastón
G
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents